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QUARTER-CENTURY 



BANQUET 



Slst Regiment N, Y, Yolunteers 



(SHEPARD RIFLES.) 



2eth OCTOBER, 18B(> 



Published by the VeteraiT^ Associeitioi 



NEW YORK. 



Bride of the Regiment March. 

Hy WM. J. SMITH, 
Veteiiui 61st llcgiment N. Y. S. V. 

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FREEDOM, TRUTH AND RIGHT. 

Grand TVl"*''*'*'- 

Dedicated to the Slat Regiment, N. Y. S. V. (Shepard Rifles). 
By CARL HEINEMANN. * 







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QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET 



'A Regiment N. Y, Volunteers 



(SHEPARD RIFLES.) 



KXC EXHIBITOR E I»I^XJIlIl«XJt?« XJNIJIM, 



29thi OCTOBKR, 1886 



NEW YORK. 



/^Y 



NOTK. 

Thie Fifty-first F^egiment, JMew York Volunteer Infaritry, was formed iq 
New York City, aqd took for its patroriyrr\ic tl^e title of SHEPAF^D RIFLES, 
in l^or|or of Co! Elliott F. Shepard, of Gov. Morgan's Staff. 

Duriqg tf\e war for tl-^e Union, thie F^egiment f\ad iq successioq thie 
following 

colonels: 

Edward Ferrero. 

Robert B. Potter. 

Charles W. Le Gendre. 

John G. Wright. 

The Regiment sailed fronq tl-je Sity of New York, October 29th, 1861, aqd 
oq tf^e Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of that event all of its survivors who could be 
assenqbled, qunqbering about oqe huqdred aqd teq, together witl^ iqvited 
guests, sat dowq to a Banquet at Morelli's, 6 West 28th Street, to conq- 
nqeiT\orate the day. 



QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OE THE 



The Original Presentation of Colors. 

It will interest the members of the Regiment and of the Veteran 
Association, and all their friends, to recall the presentation and wed- 
ding of the " Bride of the Regiment " at Palace Garden, in the City of 
New York, on September 21, 1861, of which the following account is 
taken from the Tribune of that date : 

LOCAL MILITARY MOVEMENTS — SHEPARD RIFLES — PRESENTATION OF 

COLORS. 

Palace Garden, the head-quarters of the Shepard Rifles, com- 
manded by Col. E. Ferrero, was yesterday thronged with ladies (a 
black coat being interspersed here and there to harmonize the colors), 
the occasion being the presentation of stands of colors to the regi- 
ment, the gift of Col. Elliott F. Shepard, Aide to Gov. and Major- 
General Morgan, whose name the regiment bears. With a punctu- 
ality worthy of more general imitation, precisely at the hour named, 
all the men who had uniforms were marched into the saloon and 
formed three sides of a hollow square, Color-Sergeant Boppe, his guard, 
and the officers in the centre. The colors, after some eloquent and 
patriotic remarks by Hon. F. A. Conkling, who presided, were pre- 
sented by Col. Shepard, who spoke as follows : 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Soldiers and Fel- 
low Citizens : — It may perhaps be best for me to remark that, owing to 
the rapid movem.ent of troops now going on — seven regiments having 
gone from our city in the past seven days — some regiments have had to 
go without their colors, much to their disappointment. It was con- 
sequently determined that this regiment should receive its colors as soon 
as it became a fixed fact, and before it received its arms, as this latter 
is generally the signal for immediate departure. 

This much premised, I will say that the honor you have done me, 
by naming a regiment after so humble an individual as myself, both 
surprises and, I will frankly confess it, gratifies me. You have 



FIFTY FIRST REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



5 



inscribed my name on the American flag — tliat flag on which other regi- 
ments have placed the names of Washington, Steuben, DeKalb, Scott, 
McClellan, Anderson, and which have been rendered glorious by their 
deeds. I have no claim to such an honor, unless a sincere love for 
that emblem of our liberties, and a willingness to tight and die for it, 
may furnish one. (Applause.) 

That flag is God's own banner. All nations have taken the 
design of their banners from natural objects. Egypt took an eye, Rome 
an eagle, England a lion ; some, mountains ; some, landscapes; and all 
selected objects of nobility or grandeur corresponding to the degree of 
intelligence existing in the nation. God had flung His banner over the 
world ; but men's eyes were not turned upward, and it hung unnoticed 
until Columbia joined the nations, when, looking up to Heaven, and 
worshiping God in the faith of the Pilgrim Fathers, she saw that banner, 
and transferred it to the earth. (Applause.) With gorgeous red He 
had striped the morning and the evening, and tinted the clouds between ; 
so she striped her flag with red at its top and bottom — its morning and 
evening — and put five red stripes between. He had painted the dome 
of the sky with blue ; she caught the color and transferred it to her 
Union, prefiguring that the dome of her Federal Union should be as 
indestructible, no matter what storms might rise within it, as the very 
dome of Heaven. (Cheers. ) He had spangled the sky with splendid 
stars, and she, plucking them from the constellation of Liberty, threw 
them on that fiekl of blue, and hers, too, became the Star-spangled 
Banner. (Cheers.) To that banner the eyes of all the good and 
patriotic are now turned ; the old, remembering the security they 
have enjoyed under its folds, address it with aff'ection, and declare, — 



" In youth it sheltered me, 
And I'll protect it now." 

The young rally to maintain it, and say, — 



(Applause. ) 



" Long float that standard sheet! 

Where's the foe but falls before us. 
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, 

And Freedom's banner floating o'er us!" 

(Applause.) 



6 QUARTER CENTCKY BANQUET OE THE 

The fair prays for its welfare ; for its white is as pure as her vir- 
tue, its red as rosy as her cheeks, its blue as true as her love, and its 
stars as bright as her eyes. (Applause.) All love it, and God will 
bless all who honor it. 

The sut)limest cliapter of secular history is yet unwritten. Greece 
had her birth, Rome had her rise ; it remains for America to have her 
eternity. If America be dead, then are you, and your 50,000 com- 
rades from this State, and your 350,000 comrades of the North, not 
soldiers, but dry bones of the valley. But, if you and they are soldiers, 
then the spirit of the fathers is living still, and the national life is per- 
petual, and the tragedy in which America frees herself from the assas- 
sin is the most noble act in the drama of the world. (Great applause. ) 

The North has received its equinoctial storm — its Bull Run. It 
now remains for }'ou to follow the sun. To-day the sun has crossed 
the line and begins to penetrate the Southern heavens, carrying with 
him thunder and storm ; and when you enter, as soon you will. South- 
ern climes, carry with you a tempest of vengeance for treason. (Cheers 
and applause.) 

The South derided us as being ready to sneak into any hole we 
may find. If, with banners flying and martial music, to march into the 
iv/iole 0/ the South be sneaking, let them make the most of it. 
(Cheers. ) 

Before presenting to you your Bride, the American flag, to which 
your regiment is to be married, allow me to exhort you to make it 
bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. Do you promise to love 
it.-* (Yes.) Do you promise to honor it .'' (Yes.) Do you promise 
to obey its authority } (Yes. ) In life and in death, in sickness and in 
health, in poverty and in wealth, do you promise to sustain it } (Yes. ) 
Then, what God hath joined together, let not Jeff. Davis put asunder ! 
(Cheers upon cheers.) 

In the presence of God and these witnesses, the field, rank and 
file, have plighted their faith to the Star-spangled Banner; therefore, Col. 
Ferrero, I present it to your regiment. I envy you that you are so 
soon to have the privilege of fighting for it. That it will be safe in 
your hands, I have every confidence. I congratulate your regiment 
that they have so able and accomplished a commander. (Applause.) 



FIFTY-FIKSr REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. y 

Your frieiuls will be watchful of^our iiUcrcsls, and pray, as well as work, 
for your welfare ami that of your regiment. At your country's call yow 
have drawn your sword ; sheathe it only when peace is established on 
the basis of the C(,)nstitution. Do not sheathe it while we are robbed 
of the rights of American citizenship in eleven States of the Republic. 
(Applause.) Do not sheathe it while treason tries to establish that the 
border of our country runs through its middle ; take only the Gulf of 
Me.\ico for its Southern boundary. (Applause.) 

You go forth to fight the battles of I.iberly ; to free us from the 
threatenetl reign of usurpers and desjjots ; to reconcjuer our rights 
throughout the Republic. You go from a soil rendered illustrious by 
the battles of Stony Point and Saratoga, where battles for Liberty have 
been won, to a soil rendered illustrious by the battles of Yorktown, 
Fort Moultrie and New Orleans, where battles were also won for Lib- 
erty. On the soil of the South as well as that of the North, glorious 
memories will stimulate you and national monuments will behold you. 
(Applause.) With this banner, sir, also accept these colors — the 
guitlons — they are humble but useful flags in your manoeuvres, and as 
you use them for guidons, may God guide on your arms to victory ! 
(Applause. ) 

Col. Ferrero's reply, on receiving the flags, was a model of military 
brevity, but energetic and patriotic. Rev. Dr. R. D. Hitchcock closed 
with a stirring and eloquent address, and then invoked the Divine 
blessing upon the flag and the regiment. A bountiful collation was 
served. Wallace's band discoursed eloquent music during the cerc^ 
monies, which were closed with three times three for America. 

The colors (a national standard and two guide flags) are of silk, 
the standard bearing the name of the regiment embroidered on the 
red stripes, and the guide flags the number 51. They are in worthy 
hands, and all who know Col. Ferrero are well assured that they will 
never be disu;racetl under his command. 



The Regiment Re-enlists. 

At the expiration of their fust term of service, the regiment re- 
turned to New York for rest and recruiting, and then unanimouslv 



S QUAKTER-CENTCRY BANQUET OF THE 

reenlisted for the war. The following is cut from The Herald of the 
day : — 

The 51ST Regimknt Volunteers — Chas. W. LeGendre, Colonel. 

We like the way in which the Shepard Rifles came home on Tuesday. More 
than two years ago they went from this city, and on their retmn to the city they 
marched up Broadway antl Fifth Avenue, not depcndini^ u])on any regiment of 
the " Home tiuard " to lend them cclal; but the people themselves turned out, and 
expressed their affection for them by cheers and waving hats and handkerchiefs, 
when they saw the blood-stained banners that had never trailed in the dust. 

Clarkson N. Potter, Esq., who presided at the dinner given to the regiment 
last evening, told the truth when he said that no matter how much views might 
differ aboXit the Administration, all classes had confidence in the soldiers, and were 
determined to sustain them. The regiment have all reenlisted for three years more, 
and Colonel Elliott F. Shepard, after whom the regiment is named, compared 
their return under such circumstances to that of the great Regulus, who, beinjjf 
prisoner to the Carthaginians, under a promise to come to them again, returned to 
Rome. Like Regulus, they now urged their countrymen to continue the war to a 
victorious end ; and their advice, like his, would be followed. But unlike Regulus 
—as they never had, like him, Ijcen taken prisoner— they would, with the blessing of 
Heaven, live to see the final victory. The officers are experienced, and their past 
services are a guaranty of their ability. 

The Muster Out. 

The regiment was mustered out of service July 25th, 1865, in the 
City of New York, the day being the birthday of the officer after whom 
the regiment was named. They were honorably and munificently 
entertained by the Union League Club at their old club house, 26 
East 1 7th Street. General John G. Wright was then the colonel com- 
manding, and the regiment was reviewed by General Burnside. The 
Governor of the State (Governor Fenton) was represented by Col. 
Vincent Collyer, and the veteran appearance of the regiment, proudly 
bearing its "Bride," the strains of martial music proceeding from its 
band, and the consciousness of a blessed and permanent peace having 
actually set in, filled the great spaces in and around Union Square with 
thousands of our citizens, who cheered the brave regiment to the echo. 



FIFTY FIRST RFGIMENT A'. V. VOLUNTEERS. y 

The Quarter Century Banquet. 

OCTOBER 29TH, 1886. 

Cirace was said by Rev. Dr. Hitchcock. After the removal of the 
cloth. Colonel Shcpard, who had been invited to act as chairman of 
the evening, called for order and was greeted with h)ng-continued 
applause and cheers. He then said : 

Frienils, Countrymen and Lovers: — At this time of celebrations, 
when we (ind the President of the United Slates (Cleveland) visiting the 
city for the luirpose of inaugurating the Liberty Light House, placed in 
our harbor by the French and American peoples, it seems entirely appro- 
priate that we, as a family, should gather together to celebrate the 
organization of that institution which makes it possible for us to have 
a President, for us to have a country, for us to have a harlior, for us to 
be benefited by a light — the institution of the regiment. (Applause). 
The regiment is the torch of the Almighty. Like all torches, it may 
be used for destruction as well as for guidance; but after it has served 
to destro}' or to j)rescrve, its bayonets may be used to throw light upon 
our Constiludonal rights. You, who carried the banners of the Fifty- 
first New York Regiment to the front, and helped to achieve the victory 
which has given us a Constitution, a Union, a President, are now en- 
gagetl in the peaceful discharge of your iluties as citizens under that 
Constitution ; and 1 am glad to see that while you are now most loyal 
citizens, you also show that you have an undying attachment to the 
old Fifty-first of New York. (Applause, and a voice "And to 
vShepard, too ! " Applause. ) 

It was on the 21st of September, 1861, that you did me the honor 
to receive at my hands the flags under which you marched forth ; and 
those of you wht) were present on that occasion remember that you 
were married to the American Flag. That the marriage ceremony was 
gone through with, and you were called upon to respond, and did 
respond, promising to love, honor, cherish and support that flag in 
life and in death, in poverty and wealth, in sickness and health, en- 
dowing her with all \()ur worldly goods, and thereto you pledged her 
your troth. And at the end of the ceremony, the declaration was matle 
in respect to you and to the "Bride of the Regiment, " "Therefore, 



lO QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

whatsover God hath joined together, let not Jeff. Davis put asunder, " 
(applause) and you have not allowed him to do it. (Applause.) That 
banner is here this evening. (Great applause and cheers.) A single 
\vord will tell )ou the condition in which she appears here, and the 
condition in which she was presented to yon, twenty-five years ago, at 
Palace Garden in this city. She was then a flag of the dimensions of 
this new Stars and Stripes, and she bore no inscription except your 
patronymic. But }0u and she were to be carried up to a baptism of 
blood. You inscribed her with the names of glorious victories which 
you won. (Applause.) Pierced by many a bullet, and having lost 
many a fragment to stop the wounds or save the life of some of the 
gallant patriots who bore her in the fiery engagements, she is now in 
the decrepitude of old age, leaning upon, and supported by, her 
younger daughter ; and thus you see her sustained in this manner, being 
thoroughly united to a new flag of the same dimensions and quality as 
her own originally; every shred of the blood-stained flag that is left us. 
(Applause.) 

You know, and it is unnecessary for me to repeat to you, how 
your regiment went down the Atlantic coast, and took part in the 
capture of the very first fort that was cai3tured by the Union forces, and 
was the first to plant the Stars and Stripes — this " Bride of the Regiment '" 
— the first that floated over a captured redoubt. (Thinnlering applause 
and cheers. ) That was at Roanoke Island. At Newbern, you remem- 
ber how your second Colonel, then your Lieutenant Colonel, Robert 
B. Potter (great applause) was shot through the bod}', and binding 
himself up with his own sword-sash he continued the fight to victory. 
(Great applause. ) He, who afterwards as a Major-General of Volun- 
teers — (great applause) — was wounded again for America, at the battle 
of Antietam. (Applause). I am sorry he could not be here to-night, 
but he has partially fallen into the same state as the old Flag, and from 
the same reasons — wounds — yet without a younger man to whom he 
could be similarly lashed, and brought here. At Newbern also, your 
third Colonel, then your Major, Chas. W. LeGendre — (applause) — was 
also shot and reported dead, so that New York went into mourning. 
That countryman of Lafayette, the friend of Washington, showed such 
frontage of undaunted courage and patriotism that, being shot through 



Firry FIRST REGIMENT N. Y. VOLUNTErRS. n 

the face, his jaw carried away, and the surgeon saying he could not sur- 
vive, he yet hved to get well and return to the line of battle at the 
Wilderness, only again to be wounded by a sharp-shooter and lose an 
eye and a part of his nose — his face always being to the foe ! (Ap- 
plause). You remember how through perilous marches, with difficult 
transportation by sea and land, you dotted a great part of the United 
States with your heroic deeds. (Applause.) Mississip[)i is a witness to 
your strategy and prowess. Kentucky, Tennessee and a dozen other 
States of the Union witnessed your valor; and if they were called upon 
to testify to-night as to whether you had kept your marital promises 
and done your part towards this spiritualizetl "I5rideof the Regiment," 
every one of those States would say unanimously that you had kept 
your marriage vows. (Applause.) 

From the earliest times, the right to bear names as inscriptions of 
honor and records of triumphs has been esteemed a pri\ilcge and a 
glor}'. The High Priest of God was to bear the names of the twelve 
patriarchs upon his breast-plate, as insignia of his representation of all 
the tribes of his countrymen, and as the objects of his prayers to 
Almighty God for their welfare. With a somewhat similar object, as 
it were, the " Bride of the Regiment" has had officially assigned to her 
the right to wear the following names : Roanoke Island, Newbern, 
Manasses 2d, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam. Fredericksburg, 
Vicksburg, Jackson, Wiklerness, Spotlsylvania, North Anna, Coal 
Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church. 

These names, drawn from all parts of the country, exceed in 
number the original thirteen States, and are a pledge to the various States 
in which you respectively achieved the right to wear these names, that 
the Stars and Stripes will forever give glory to the citizens who main- 
tain them, and protection and peace wherever throughout the land 
they may go. (Applause. ) 

These names, like those set in the High Priest's breast-plate, seem 
each engraved upon a precious stone, which flashes the light of Lil)erty 
and Union: and the national flag seems to perform a High Priestly 
office in atoning for the sins of the rebels, at the same time that it pre- 
sents the symbols of a just and indestructible authority. (Applause.) 



12 QUARTER CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

You have blockaded by water and have besieged by land. You 
have stormed v^^orks and have taken forts. You have taken prisoners, 
flags, guns, horses and trains. You have nursed the wounded and 
buried the dead of friend and foe. You have accomplished great 
marches ; garrisoned forts ; bivouacked in the field ; constructed 
mines, built defenses, charged the enemy and captured cities. (Ap- 
plause.) And you have given about one thousand lives of martyrs 
towards the edification of the Temple of the Union ! (Applause.) 
And now )Ou have exchanged the rifle for the ballot, and in peaceful 
pursuits as private citizens, you demonstrate the worth of those insti- 
tutions for which you fought, and succeeding generations have seen, 
and will see, that you fought more wisely than you knew. (Applause.) 

Yet it was not always a fight ; sometimes the amusements that are 
incident to a state of seige would set in. We have an example here, 
in ihh ingenious carving [showing it] of how, when sold'ers are off 
dut}', they could exercise their ingenuity upon cracker-boxes. (Laugh- 
ter). This proves — this intricate, curious souvenir, of which I was 
made liie recipient — that the siege of Vicksburg lasted for months. 
Here are thirty-five different jointed forceps, scissors, lanterns, chains, 
dividers and various other ingenious implements, all carved out of one 
solid piece of wood — all holding together, without a seam, never sepa- 
rated, and still but one piece ! This was a sensible way of whiling 
away the hours when off guard : this was much better than gambling 
or idling. It is like the Fourth of July, because it makes the crackers 
fly. (Laughter.) 

The Commissioners of Allotment helped you to turn your backs 
on the table. (Laughter.) Our great and distinguished citizen, the 
late Theodore Roosevelt, father of the candidate for maj-or, was one of 
the first to show in a most efficient manner that soldiers could send 
their pay, or portions of it, home for the support of their families : 
and he also helped to originate and carry out the plan of soldiers voting 
on the field, for which I labored so earnestly. (Applause.) 

One of the incidents of the capture of Vicksburg, at which you 
were present, was the surrender of the office of the Daily Citizen, pub- 
lished in that city. The paper had dwindled down to this [showing 
"ti. From being n four-page paper it had become not even a two-page 



FIFTY FIRST RFGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



13 



paper, for it is wall-paper, printed on one side ! (Laiifi^hter. ) On the 
2d of ful\', 1863, this r7(;/'i'(5«/-^ Oi'/se// announced that "General Robert 
K. Lee had given Hooker, Milroy & Co. one of the best and sound- 
est whippings on record, and the '(lalorious Union' is exceeding!) 
weak in the knees, and old Abe Lincoln has fled Washington for parts 
unknown. (Laughter.) And that a certain loyal Southerner is a pink- 
nosed, lob-sided, toad-eating Yankee, a lineal descendant of Judas 
Iscariot, and a brother-german of the greatest Puritanical, sycophantic, 
howling .scoundrel unhung — Parson Brownlow." ("Oh! oh!" and 
laughter. ) 

But this same paper has a "Note,"' dated July 4th, 1863, saying 
"The banner of the Union floats over Vicksburg ! (Applause.) General 
Grant has caught the rabbit ; he has dined in Vicksburg, and he did 
bring his tlinner with him. " (L'proarious laughter.) That shows the 
ditference of the stuff on which the Rebs and the Feds were 'i^^. 
(Laughter.) 

Gentlemen, we had hoped to have with us one of the commanders 
of the Ninth Army Corps ; but as that is impossible, I will read you 
Major-General Parke's letter, in which he says : 

16 Lafayette Square, j^" 
Washington, Oct. 26, 1886. \ 

My Dear Colonel Shcpard : 

I regret extremely that my duties here prevent my being with the Shepard 
Rifles on Friday evening, Oct. 29th. 

What memories does that name, Fifty-first New York, recall ! Go back to 
the time of our meeting in Annapolis and look at these regiments of nolile men, all 
ready and prepared for active service. See lliem embark to sail they knew not where. 
Follow them to North Carolina, then to Virginia to Maryland and again to Virginia. 
Thence to Kentucky, and before reaching their destination hurried off to Mississippi 
to support and assist their comrades in the reduction of Vicksburg and reoccupalion 
of Jackson. Thence returning to Kentucky, and joining the nohlc Burnside in Ten- 
nessee. Thence to return to Virginia to assist in all the operations leading up to 
the grand finale, the surrender of I^e. And in all this the glorious Fifty-first Nc^ 
York bore its share most nobly and gallantly. 

To be so kindly rememl)ered by you all is indeed an honor which I heartily 
appreciate, and I beg you will tender to your committee and to the organization my 
most sincere thanks. 

Regretting that I cannot be with you on this memorable occasion, I am 

Sincerely yours, 

John G. Parke. 



14 QVARTER-CENrURY BANQUET OE THE 

[Three clieers were then given for General Parke, once Commander 
of the Ninth Army Corps.] 

The Chairman — The first sentiment on the programme tonightis, 

'J'he United wStates of America : Our Beloved Country — 
Founded, Preserved and Ruled by Providence. 

We hear a great deal to the effect that certain men have 
founded our country ; that certain men have saveil our country, 
have regenerated our country : but I think that everybody who has 
stood the test of battle, as you have, will say that this is a very low 
plane. Vou feel that this country was formed by God for the highest 
and noblest purposes ; you feel a sacred responsibility to defend the 
Constitution which He caused our forefathers to adopt and our genera- 
ti(Mi to amend ; and you feel that the safety and welfare of this country 
is not in the hands of men, but that she must look to the protection of 
God Almighty. (Applause.) The more we inculcate this sentiment, 
the better and more worthy of our love will our country become. (Ap- 
plause.) 

There have been prepared, as you will see by the programme, 
bronze badges,— one to be given to each member of the Shepard 
Rifles, with the charge that he shall never part with it till death ; and 
that, in the preparation for death, he will endeavor to leave it to some 
one of his family, so that it will be preserved and treasured as a 
memento of the valor of that member. (Applause.) These medals 
and badges are here to be distributed before we separate this evening. 

We have regretted that there were some absentees whom we would 
like very much to see this evening ; but we have kept for the last to 
refer to the first colonel of the regiment — (apJDlause) — Edward Ferrero. 
(Cheers upon cheers.) You do not need me to introduce him to you ; 
you know him already. Nor is it necessary for me to speak of his 
exploits. What could you have done if you had not been so gallantly 
led } And, from being your Colonel, he rose, for valor on the field, to 
be a Major-Gcneral of Volunteers ; and not only this, but he ranked 
foremost in elevating that class of men for whom Lafayette came over 
a second time to our country to intercede- -the Negroes. (Applause.) 



FIFTY-FIRST REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 15 

(General Fcrrero, belicvinj,^ thai iho Negro could show good qualities 
on the field, trusted them and educated them, until he made his col- 
ored troops the object of the admiration of the whole country. (Ap- 
plause.) I shall call upon him to respond to the next regular toast, 

The Ninth Army Corps : It Survives in the Unioivj. it Helped 
TO Save. 

General 1'errero, on rising, was received with rounds of api)lause, 
and said : 

]Mr. Chairman, Comrades, Gentlemen : — I am afraid you have 
selected a poor person to respond to this toast. I am not an orator, I 
could drill you — (ai)plause) — itot harangue }-ou ; but 1 would be igno- 
rant, indeed, if I could not say a few words about the Ninth Army 
Corps. I cannot say anything to embellish its career. It has no 
equal in the army. It was called the " Geograi)hical Corps," as we were 
sent to all parts of the country. The Corps had for its niotti), "Vic- 
tory or Death." (Apidause. ) Surrender never entered into its vocabu- 
lary. 'J'he Nation must be proud of such a Corps. 1 am sure she is, 
antl if she ever has occasion to meet an enemy she can depend on such 
men as were in the Ninth Army Corps. (Applause.) \ thank you for 
your welcome. We all thank the father of the regiment, Colonel 
Shepard — (a[)plause) — for the noble way in which he assisted in the first 
organization of the regiment ; the way he always stood by it, befriend- 
ing it ami everybody in it ; for the colors he gave us, and m(;st espe- 
cially for the " Britle of the Regiment" (a|)plause); for the medals in im- 
perishable bronze which he has had struck in commemoration of its 
deeds, and for all the services he has rendered the country. (Ap- 
plause. ) 

The Chairman — In 'response to the next toast, I shall call upon 
the same minister who invoked the Divine blessing ui)on the "Bride 
of the Regiment," when you w^ere married to her. I-ike her, he too 
has been preserved — the Rev. Dr. Roswell D. Hitchcock, President of 
the Union Theological Seminary, (.\pplause. ) 

The Toast — 

The Pulpit : Through the Loyai, Services of the Ministers 
oE Religion, Patriotism was Strength en eo by Faith. 



1 6 QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, when the applause had subsided, sj)oke as 
follows : 

Mr. Chairman, Soldiers and Gentlemen ; — If I were not so 
young a man, I would say that we are commemorating events which oc- 
curred about three-quarters of a century ago. (Laugliter. ) Such 
strides as our country has taken, since this flag started on its mis- 
sion, I think are unmatched in history. More than one gentleman who 
hears me to-night will remember how uncertain it was at that time 
whether a New England regiment would be j)ermilted to pass peace- 
fully through the streets of this great commercial metropolis. More 
than one gentleman who is here to-night will remember when that first 
colored regiment went down Broadway. I thanked God for the sight 
and prophesied the victory! (Applause.) 

It may not be modest in me, Mr. Chairman, but I am very sure 
that in your toast you do no more than justice to the clergy of the 
North, in that tremendous struggle for the life of the Nation ; but I think 
it is simply a matter of duty and honor for me to say, that the trust in 
Providence was not wholly with the clergy of the North. The clergy 
of the South, pitted against us in prayer and on the battle-field, were 
just as honest as we. (Applause.) 

Allusion has been made this evening to Lafayette. When he was 
in this country in 1784 — it was not the visit of 1824, but immediately 
after the war in 1784 — he said to Washington that his three great hob- 
bies, as he called them, were the closer Federal Union, the alliance 
with France and the abolition of slavery. (Applause.) 

As for the French alliance, our old traditional policy is best : 
" Entangling alliances with none, friendship for all." In regard to the 
closer Federal Union, that was in our blood, but not in our muscle, 
until the recent war had closed. We never knew what Daniel Webster 
had been doing for our generation until the rebel shot at Fort Sumter, 
and then we learned that the sentiment of years had passed not only 
into the blood, but into the muscle and the bone of the nation ; and 
what Lafayette desired in 1784 had become at last an established fact. 
(Applause. ) 

And then, in regard to the abolishment of Slavery. You all 
know that at first we had no idea of anything of the sort. Sla\'ery was 



FIFTY FIRST RFGIMFNT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



17 



protected by the Constitution. We resisted the idea of hberating the 
slaves until the constraint of Providence was put upon us ; and what 
you have said, Colonel Shepard, is eminently true — we fought more 
wisely than we knew. The true doctrine of the Constitution had to be 
baptized in blood. Those poor negroes by the millions would have been 
slaves to-day as for any one of us. There is not a man here to-night 
who would have liberated those men, had not the constraint been put 
upon us. The great lesson of the struggle is to trust in Providence 
more and more, and in men less and less. (A{)plause. ) 

One word in regard to this matter of national sentiment. I 
happened to be in Portland just before the outbreak of the Civil War, 
in the last days of that predecessor of Lincoln whose name I have been 
trying to forget these many years- (hisses for Buchanan) — in the last 
days of that Administration wlien we seemed to be going all to pieces 
— and was talking with a man of superior intelligence, who remarked, 
"If we go to pieces, what will we do down here in Maine.-' We will 
connect ourselves with Canada. The government of Queen Victoria is 
good enough for us. We are not going to exist as a part of a poor, 
shattered American Government. We shall go where there is law and 
liberty and the fear of God." You know how these Maine boys fought 
afterward. (Applause.) One fact is, we have been the pupils of Provi- 
dence. We have been educated up into- our present national feeling, 
and there is no danger that it will ever decay. (Applause.) 

I thank you for the privilege of being here to-night. Clergymen 
are sometimes chargetl with having too much admiration for military 
pomp and prowess ; I suppose it is because we represent the Church 
Militant. (Laughter.) 

The Ch.\ikm.\n — You remember lunv, at Newbern, your tiagstaff 
was shot in two, and so you sent it with the " Bride '' to New York for 
repairs. When she returned to you at Newport News, there fell from 
her folds an address to you in words of a song which you used to sing 
with enthusiasm. She has brought down her address to the present day 
by adding ft)ur new verses, and here it is. 

The whole assemblage then arose and joined heartily in singing — 



QUARTER-CENTCRY BANQUET OF THE 



Jhe Bride to Her Regiment. 



By Elliott F. Shepard. 



Yk gallant Fifiy-first New York! 

Ye Shepard Rifles bold ! 
I come again, your battle flag, 

To lead you as of old. 

I am your Bride, and proudly wear, 

Emblazon 'd on my breast, 
The names of victories you gain'd, 

When on the foe you prest. 

With every piece which I have lost 

I turn'd a ball away, 
And saved some hero in your band 

To win th' eventful day. 

My Stars and Stripes, whicli float o'er you, 

O'er Washington did wave ; 
And God by them gives Liberty, 

The triumphs of the brave. 

I am my country's war-worn flag, 

With scars in every fold ; 
I love tlie thickest of the fight. 

And glory in the bold. 

Baptized I am with patriot's blood, 

My standard-bearers true ; 
Their spirits went to God who gave — 

They left their work to you. 

No traitor hand has e'er held me, — 

I'd burn it off complete ; 
But you and I in loved embrace 

Have never known defeat. 

Together we have freed the slave, 

Together saved the State ; 
Columbia's Union fills the land — 

America the great. 

Now glory be to God on high ! 

The Lord of Hosts is He ! 
Sound forth that peace has come again. 

With laurels for the free. 



FfFTY-FIRST REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



The Bride to Her Regiment. 



19 



Words by Eliiott F. Sukpard. 
Suit. & Alio. 

•"1— I -|: 



53!-3~:EE.- 



Music by J.\s. Hazard Wilson. 



I. Ye gal - lant Fif - ty - first New York ! Ye Shcp - anl 
Tenor. 






^^^m ^= F^fm^^^^m 



Ri - ilcs bold! I come a - gain, vour bat - tie Flag, 



S3E=i 



^— •— ir— 



¥ 









e^-^; 



&—.—^ — 



fi^ 



:^=:1= 



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=f-Ffz=3:zat=fz=!=iriE^=i=t^-Et,T33=i=^^ ' 

•r ^'^ r-M ■* T 1^ t ^ ^\ 



To lead you as of 



old,.... To load you as of ok 

f7s 



;^l^^^i^3^5ii^^^|ipiEi 






20 QUARTER CENTURY BAXQUET OF THE 

The Chairman — The next toast is, 

Peace : The Victors and Vanqiiished have Embraced and are 
Friends again. 

In response to this toast, I shall call upon another survivor of 
the quarter-century — the soldier who presided at the presentation of 
"The Bride of the Regiment," in 1861 — our distinguished fellow- 
citizen, Colonel Frederick A. Conkling, who has also repeatedly served 
the State and the country in the halls of legislation. (Great applause. ) 

Colonel Conkling then addressed the veterans as follows : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen : — My physician says that merri- 
ment at the table is conducive to digestion ; and I would attempt to 
say something funny upon this occasion if it were not for the gentleman 
whom I see before me — the champion humorist of the dinner-table, 
Hon. John R. Brady — and his presence warns me to keep aloof from 
every such attempt. (Laughter.) 

Now, Mr. President and Gentlemen, I am going to ask your 
permission to preface what I have to say in response to the toast by a 
briefreference to the distinguished gentleman, our Chairman, whose name 
the Fifty-first Regiment bore. (Applause.) Standing as I did in my 
capacity as a Representative in the Thirty-seventh Congress, which was 
elected with Lincoln's — (applause) — first election, I stood very near the 
person of the Governor of this State, Edwin D. Morgan — (applause) — 
and, by reason of that relation, came to know a great deal about 
the services of Colonel Shepard — (applause) — who was Aide-de-Camp 
upon his staff, as Commander-in-Chief of the New York State Naval 
and Military forces, and Major-General of Volunteers commanding this 
Department. 1 do not know whether history has recorded, or will 
properly record, the valuable services of this gentleman ; but I am 
justified in saying here, that he seemed during the war to be empowered 
with ubiquity. One day helping in organizing regiments for the seat 
of war, the next on the field ; he was instrumental in putting into the 
field 47,000 men. When in command of the Depot of Volunteers at 
Elmira, he served simultaneously as Aide-de-Camp, Assistant Inspector- 
General, Assistant Adjutant-General, Mustering-in Officer, Ordnance 
Officer, Assistant Quartermaster-General, and in almost every other 



FIFTY-FIRSiT REGIMENT N. Y. VOLUNTEERS. 21 

capacity; for he was at such a distance from head-quarters at 
Albany and Washington, and such was the confidence reposed in his 
judgment by both the State and National Governments, tluil he was 
clothed with the authority of these different departments. He com- 
manded, and justly deserved, the encomiums of his general and every 
patriotic man in the State and Nation. (Applause.) He placed himself 
upon a footing with his general, amounting almost to the affection which 
a proud father bears toward his son, until that general, finally departing, 
left this rude sphere to join the blessed band of the great who have 
been with Washington and Franklin — our sages of old — and Lincoln, 
yet mourned by the country. (Applause). Governor Morgan never 
ceased to speak of Colonel Shepard as one for whom he bore an 
affection amounting almost to the ties of consanguinity — (applause) — an 
affection which you have echoed to-night. (Applause. ) 

You will also allow me to express the great pleasure I feel in 
seeing present here to-night another of those gentlemen who met with 
us twenty-five years ago, the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, whose patriotism is 
surpassed by that of no mah, and whose learning is as great as his 
patriotism. I remember receiving from him, long since, a correction 
of Plato's mis-quotation in his De Legibus, VI., 19th, from the 17th 
Book of Homer's Odyssey, 322-3, the original Greek of which he 
rendered into English as follows : 

' Zeus takes from man one half his worth away, 
When on him falls the day of slavery ' 

— a sentiment which it would have been well for our forefathers to have 
studied before instituting slavery in this country, and which also shows 
the broad and national lines in which the studies of our greatest con- 
temporaneous scholars have been pursued. (Applause.) 

Now a few words with reference to the Fifty-first, whicli }'ou did 
me the honor to wish me to meet on the occasion of the presentation 
of its colors. Having stood in that relation to the Fifty-first, it was but 
natural, in my capacity as a Congressman and as a cili/en. to follow 
that regiment from State to State throughout its career ; and I tell you 
here to-night, that while Old Ocean shall continue to chant its solemn 
requiem along the shores of the Carolinas ; while South Mountain and 
Blue Ridge shall continue to hft their summits to the sky ; while the 



2 2 QUAK7'ER^CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

mighty Mississi[)pi shall roll its waters to the sea, the New York Fifty- 
first shall be treasured, honored and commemorated by every patriotic 
citizen of the United States. (Applause.) 

Mr. President, I heard some time ago, that if you would only 
give Conkling a chance he would talk any audience to death. (Laughter, 
and cries of "Go on. Go on.") I have been thinking about things in 
connection with that old flag. It looks so natural to me, having stood 
there, as head man, giving orders on the occasion of its presentation. 
I dare say some of you may recollect my face, although I am not so 
young a man — not quite so young as I was then. (Laughter.) There 
is something I read a great while ago about that flag : 

" I am your Bride, and proudly wear, 
Emblazoned on my breast, 
The names of victories you gained 
When on the foe you prest." 

(Great applause.) I don't know whether everybody understands that 
flag as I do. As I understand it, gentlemen, the stars and those dark 
marks you see are the relics of the old flag transferred upon this new flag. 
("Aye, aye.") How historical, how glorious ! and thus to preserve it is 
to embalm it with youth. (Applause. ) Seven color-bearers laid down 
their lives upon the altar of their country bearing that old flag. 
(Applause. ) 

Well, now I am coming back to business with regard to peace. 
"The victors and vanquished have embraced, and are friends again." I 
hardly know how it happened that that sentiment came to be assigned 
to me. To tell the truth, I feel a little guilty about it. I recollect, after 
the battle of South Mountain and Antietam, I went over to the Whiie 
House and said to President Lincoln : "It appears to me that we are 
not prosecuting this war with the degree of determination and spirit 
that we ought. These Southern people are multiplying like their own 
rattle-snakes. I am in favor of making their country a monument of 
vengeance. I want to see every city and every town, and every village 
and hamlet and plantation made a blackened waste." In saying this, I 
represented the spirit of very many of my fellow-countrymen. But 
Mr. Lincoln said, "Stop; don't talk so." I reflected a great deal upon 
that. When peace came, I saw what it meant. There was something 



FIFTY FIRST REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 23 

very touching and solemn in the attitude, in tlie manner, in tlic intona- 
tion of his voice, in the words he utteretl. 

"The victors and vanquished have embraced, and are friends 
again." They would not have embraced so soon if I had had my way. 
But they have embraced, and that embrace is due to the man who stood 
on the battle-field of Gettysburg, at the dedication of the monument, and 
said, " Let us here resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain ; that 
the Union, under God, shall ha\e a new birth of freedom, and the 
Government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall 
not perish from the earth."' (Applause.) The state of things that now 
exists — the happy relations, unparalleled in the history of all former wars 
— the happy relations that now exist arc due in a great measure, in my 
judgment, to the advice of Abraham Lincoln. (Loud applause.) Upon 
the enclosure of his statue in Union Square are inscribed his own words, 
"With malice toward none; with charity for all. " (Applause.) They 
speak, gentlemen, the sentiments of that man's heart and purpose of his 
utterance. Nothing pictures his temper toward the South more fully 
than those words. 

Another man also played an important part in bringing about the 
existing relations between the two sections of the country — between the 
great American family — and that man's name is Ulysses S. Grant. (Loud 
applause. ) When the surrender took place at Appomattox Court House, 
he ordered rations to be issued to the Southern army as soon as they 
had surrendered. (Applause.) They had fought to the last extremity. 
They had nothing to eat, and were gaunt with hunger and starvation. 
The moment he became cognizant of that fact he issued those orders. 
When the terms of surrender began to be arranged, his Chief of Staff, 
who wrote down the terms, put in that the force's horses were to be 
surrendered. But Grant said to the rebel chief, "No. you keep your 
horses; your people will want them to put in their crops." 
(Applause.) 

Well, now, suppose I say a word before 1 stop about what lesson 
we should all learn from the past. Let me say, then, above all. that 
we ought for ourselves to hold most dear the just claims of the friends 
ofliberty in other lands, who look to America for encouragement and 
guidance in their struggle for freedom. (Applause.) 



24 QCAKTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

In the name of the whole family of mankind, let us take care 
that this fair fabric of free government, reared by our fathers and so 
recently cemented by our brothers' blood, shall not perish in our hands ; 
but that it shall descend, like the unclouded sun, bright and glorious, 
to our posterity. (Long-continued applause.) 

The Chairman — The next toast is, 

The Press : It Rang out its Clarion Voice for the Union in 
HER Hour of Peril, and now Disseminates Intelligence which is 
intended to Bind Together all Parts of the Country. 

Rev. Dr. Henry M. Field, of The Eikitigelist, being called upon 
to respond to this toast, was received with hearty applause. The Chair- 
man introduced him as the author of that recent patriotic work, " Blood 
is Thicker than Water." He said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — My words this evening will 
be very {qw. The voices w^hich you like to hear, and the faces you 
like to see, upon an occasion like this, are the voices you have heard 
and the faces you have seen in the smoke of battle — your own comrades 
and brother soldiers. But, perhaps, I can say something for a moment 
that may be of interest to you. 

I have visited more recently than you, perhaps, the spot where 
your comrades sleep. I was in Vicksburg a few months ago, and spent 
a most touching hour in the cemetery where are gathered so many 
soldiers. You can read upon the stones many familiar names — man}- 
who went out as gay and strong as you, and gave their lives to their 
country. It is a beautiful spot, looking over the river — the peaceful 
river — flowing on silently, with none of the vessels of war afloat on its 
waters, and no batteries with their din of arms. All was peaceful and 
quiet. And yet, of those eleven thousand graves, the names of only three 
thousand of those who sleep in them are known ! Of the rest, there they 
lie — the unknown dead ! Not even their names preserved, who gave 
their lives that the country might not die. (Applause. ) Now, gentle- 
men, it may seem strange for a minister of the Gospel to say anything 
in favor of war; but I believe in war. (Applause.) It is the worst 
calamity with which God scourges the tran.sgressor. Sometimes 
nations sin, and the time comes when a nation becomes demoralized 
and corrupted, and it needs war to purify the atmosphere. The time 



FIFTY-FIKSr REGIMENT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



25 



had come when war was inevitable, and it came upon the generation to 
which you belong. Thank God, that its course was as it should have 
been, and its desired end was achieved. 

I remember well the scene to which Dr. Hitchcock alluded when 
the Fifty-first marched down Broadway ; when we thought how many 
were going never to return. Bitter are the memories of war. How 
often that song, " When this Cruel War is Over," and "The Boys Come 
Marching Home, " was sung. How many never came ! Mothers sat 
at their windows and watched down the street, and wondered why 
Charlie did not come, when all that was left of her boy was sleeping 
by the river side or in the mountains of Virginia. We remember 
our dead while we honor the living. Thank God, at last peace has 
come, antl come to stay. (Applause.) And here it may not be 
improper for me to say one word of those who were your adver- 
saries during the war. Braver men never marched to battle. (Ap- 
plause.) It was to your honor and pride that they came, for you 
met foemen worthy of your steel. I have lately been through the South, 
and I am here to-night to bear witness of the present loyal, noble spirit 
of those who were in arms against the Union. (Applause.) I think 
there is nothing in history more pathetic than the conduct of the 
Southern soldiers after the war. You came home elated with victory ; 
when our boys marched through Washington everyone was buoyant 
with the thought that victory had been gained. The Rebels w-ere all 
scattered — all was gone ; and there they stood in desolation amid the 
scenes of their former prosperity. 13ut the spirit of true soldiers — the 
spirit of Americans — was in them, and, laying aside the weapons of 
war, they went to work to restore their former condition. Nobler, if 
anything could be nobler than they, was the contluct of the Southern 
women, who put their hands to manual duties and services, and en- 
deavored in all they coukl to restore the happiness, the domestic welfare, 
and the general prosperity which had been destroyed. (Applause.) 
Now, I say, these women are my countrywomen. (Applause.) "God 
forbid that I should ever complain," said an old lady. ■ Said another, 
"My father was killed at Gettysburg." Oh, the horrible necessity which 
rendered necess-.ry such carnage anil destruction ! It is delightful for 
me to see the returning of the South. I never was so much at home as 



26 QCARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

under the quondam Confederate roof. One of Stonewall Jackson's 
lieutenants said he rejoiced in the peace now restored ; and the only 
cannon shot I heard in the whole South was in the capital of Alabama, 
fired in honor of the Union General Hancock, when he was laid in his 
grave. (Sensation.) A judge at the West, writing to me the other day, 
said, ' ' I have made the acquaintance of a great many Confederate 
officers and, strange to say, I have become very fond of them and have 
made friends with all of them. There was not a man but has said 
to me that he was not only glad the war was over, but that it ended as 
it did." I repeated that remark this very day, in this city, to Roger A. 
Pryor, who carried the summons to Fort Sumter to surrender. God 
bless our Union ! May it live as long as the sim and moon endure ! 
(Loud applause.) Towards this perpetuity an intelligent, patriotic 
press constantly contributes. During the war, the press did much to 
inform the country of its course, with its fluctuations of victory and 
disappointment, and to kindle the invincible determination of the 
people to preserve the Union. May the press always be found as 
loyal and wise. (Applause.) 

The Chairman — The next toast is, 

The Legal Profession : It Furnished its Full Quota for the 
Union Armies ; and now, in Legal ways. Defends and Maintains the 
Amended Constitution. 

I shall call upon a distinguished jurist to respond to this toast. 
One who, though born in the United States, has the whole world for 
his country — (laughter and applause) — one who has been elected and 
reelected unanimously to a great office — that of Justice of the Supreme 
Court of this State, and has for so many years worn the ermine that 
everybody believes it was his swaddling bands — (laughter) — except for 
the fact that there is no stain on it. (Laughter.) When the Republicans 
were trying to prevent this city from being sold to the slaveocracy by the 
Democratic party, a lo\al judge upon the bench was a first necessity, 
and it was then that the\' voted to a man for the loyal Brady. (Great 
applause.) We are honored with the speaking presence of His Honor, 
John R. Brady. 



FIFTY-FIRST REGIMEXT N. Y. I'OLl'XTEERS. 27 

Judge Brady was received with hearty cheers, and said — 

Mr. Chairman : — The profession to which you and 1 belong did 
certainly send their full quota to the war. They are (juite fond of litiga- 
tion and always ready for a fight. (lyiughler. ) These bronze medals 
are most approjtriate tt)kcns of the service of the gallant Shc])ard Rilles. 
I see on the list of their recipients the honest name of Patrick Renalian, 
an Irishman who was in the battle of Antietam, and who, upon his 
return home, being questioned about that fight, took great glory to the 
cause of "Owld Ireland," because that battle was won by Irishmen. 
Being asked who they were, he succeeded in naming General Ferrero 
(who, by the way, is an Italian), the aforesaid Patrick Renahan, and a 
third, whose name he forgot. (Laughter.) 

I also see the firm and true name of Dennis McNamara, as good 
a Catholic as he is an Irishman, who was set to guard a church where, 
unfortunately, a priest in his robes had been killed during a fusilade. 
Dennis thought the killing of a murderous "Secesh '" was all rigiit ; "but, 
alas!" said he, "to think of thim vistments, with a bloody hole thro' 
thim, a spilin' them. "' (Laughter.) 

Judge Brady continued his response to this toast in a pla\ ful vein, 
intermingling illustrative anecdotes with his theme ; but in concluding 
said that the memories of the past great struggle for the preservation 
of the Union were for the moment driven back by the more impressive 
presence of the heroes who perilled their lives — God bless them ! — to 
maintain and to perpetuate the Republic ; to hold for ever in brilliant 
brotherhood all the stars of our tlag. (Loud and long applause.) 

The Chairman called upon Captain William S. .\ndrews to re- 
spond to the next toast — 

The Ladies : The Stars ok the Union. (Ap])lause. ) 

Captain Andrews said : 

Mr. Chairman and Comratles : — General Ferrero suggests that I 
speak of the wives of the Ninth Army Corps. I will say I wish they 
were with us here to-night. It is proper that they should be, because 
no man, certainly no army of men, ever went forward to battle who 
were not sustained and made courageous, and held up amongst the 
vicissitudes and trials and dangers of army life, by the recollection 



28 QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

and memory of the dear ones whom they had left at home. (Applause.) 
I am one of those — and I mean it in no light or frivolous sense — who 
believe that men live for women, and that it should be so. Our 
first and greatest duty in this life is toward our mothers, our wives, 
our sisters and our daughters — (applause) — and there are no men in 
any rank or walk of life who know the value of the society, friendship 
and kindly guidance of woman so well as soldiers who have been 
deprived of that society, that aid, that love. Those of us who have 
been sick and lying upon a bed of fever and pain in a hospital will, no 
matter how long we live, never cease to remember the women who came 
and ministered unto us. (Applause.) Those who were so cared fur 
will never cease to recollect those women as if they were angels. I 
remember being taken from a march in Virginia (I was taken down 
with fever), being put into an ambulance and carried into Alexandria, 
and while we were there the second Battle of Bull Run was fought. 
The hospitals were crowded with the wounded. I happened to be in 
a ward which was presided over by a great, big, fat Dutch woman. 
(Laughter.) She was homely, and there was nothing attractive about 
her; and yet I have never been able to think of that woman without 
the warmest affection. I recall how she bustled about among the 
eighteen or twenty men, taking the best care of us, and every one of us 
loving her as though she had been a beautiful young girl ; and when 
the young medical gentleman who attended us got our medicines mixed, 
and 1 got that intended for my friend in the next bed, and he got that 
intended for me — (laughter) — although our complaints were diametri- 
cally opposite, I think the sicknesses that might have resulted were 
prevented by the kindness and attention of this dear old nurse. 
(Applause. ) 

Now, if I have done my duty to the ladies, I want to say that I have 
always been proud of having belonged to the old Ninth Army Corps. 
(Applause. ) I was a special aide, having charge of secret service on 
the staff of General Burnside. When you went to Hatteras, I was there. 
I furnished all the pilots that were put upon the boats. I have always felt 
that I had some part in, and have some reason to be proud of, the exploits 
of the Ninth Army Corps ; but the brightest part of my experience is, 
and always will be, that, after I had become a signal officer, I was for 



FIFTY FIRST RFGIMFXT N. V. VOLUNTEFKS. 2i) 

a time attached to the staff of (ieneral Ferrero— (applause) — and became 
one of " Fenero's Fighting Brigade.' (Applause.) So they were known, 
and so will they be known, as long as the history of our armies lasts. 
(Applause.) I would say that he was then colonel of )our regiment, 
although commanding your brigade. (Applause.) 

In that brigade was the 21st Connecticut Regiment, the dear old 
chaplain of which never had a horse, so he used to steal a ride on the 
baggage wagon. Well, one day he went into a fanner's barn anti 
took a horse and saddle. The owner came in great distress to (ieneral 
Ferrero, but it was hard to convince the old chaplain that the horse 
and saddle didn"t lielong to him, being, as he thought, contraband, 
and all things being fair in war, that he was entitled to them as a cap- 
ture. (Laughter.) He was very much disgusted when the (General 
compelled him to give them up. (Laughter.) 

I am asked to tell the story of an old colored man who, after 
the battle of Fort Donelson, was sitting on the deck of one of the 
Mississippi River steamboats, and appeared acquainted with camp 
life. I said to him, "I suppose you were in the battle of Fort 
Donelson. Were you in the fight.?"' He : "I had a little taste of it.'" 
" You didn"t see it all ?" " No, sah ; I run."" (Laughter.) " What, ran at 
the first fire.?" "Yes, sah ; and would habe run sooner had I knowed 
it was comin". " "Well, that doesn't speak very well for your courage." 
"Courage, dat's not in my line, sah. Cookin' is my profession." 
(Laughter.) " But have you no regard for your reputation ?'' "Repu- 
tation ! what am dat by de side ob life, sah ?" " Why, do you think your 
life is worth more than other men's .■* " "Well, it's worth a heap more 
to me.'" (Laughter.) "You. must value your life very highlv. "' "Yes, 
sah ; moren a million dollars ; case what would that be to a man with 
de breff out ob him .? '" ' ' But why regard your life as worth more than 
other men's.'" " Well, sah, different men .sets different values on their- 
selves. My life ain't in de market. "" (Laughter.) " Well, if you were 
killed, you would have had the satisfaction of knowing that vou had 
died for your country." "What satisfaction would it be to me, with 
the power of feeling gone.'" "Then you care nothing for i)atriot- 
ism and bravery? "' "No, sah ; I regard dem as among de vanities." 
"If all the soldiers had been like you, the Government might have 



30 QUARTER-CENTURY BANQUET OF THE 

been destroyed.'" "Yes, sah, dere would habe been nothing to pre- 
vent it. I wouldn't put my life in de scale 'gainst any government ; 
case no government could replace de loss to me.'' (Laughter.) "If 
you had been killed, do you think any of your company would 
have missed you?" "May be not. Dese soldiers don't pay much 
'tention to a dead white man, let alone a dead nigger ; but I'd a missed 
myself, sah, and dat's a heap more 'portant to me." (Laughter.) 

That darkey was a great joker, and really no coward at heart ; 
for he did good service afterward, like many of his race — one of the 
effects of freedom. (Applause.) And the darkey ladies did, too. 
(Laughter.) 

The Chairman — The next toast is, 

Our Absent Comrades : God Bless the Living. We Honor 
THE Dead. 

This toast was drunk standing, and the company remained stand- 
ing while the Chairman said : 

There is a large roll of absent-ees, which will occur to each man's 
heart readily. You have heard some of their names pronounced to- 
night — Burnside, Reno, Boppe. Immortal names, to }'Ou most dear 1 

You all remember and venerate the memory of your first chaplain, 
Benton, who lost his life at Newbern, N. C, whilst ministering to the 
wounded and dying on the field. 

Who will ever forget the gallant Sims, pierced with nine bullets at 
the mine of Petersburg ! 

Lieutenant-Colonel R. Charlton Mitchell is not here to-night. 

The dead have gone from us, and the living feel the ravages of 
time. We all feel that twenty-five years have made us older than we 
were when we first started in on behalf of the LTnion. 

And there are some who are not here to-night, although not in 
their final resting-places. Major-General Robert B. Potter — (applause) 
— is so near his glorification that he cannot mingle with us in this earthly 
scene. General Charles W. LeGendre — (applause) — is in Japan, 
where he has helped to kindle the new light that is gilding the Orient. 
General John G. Wright— (applause) — is with us in spirit, although 
his bodily presence is across the Mississippi. So is Surgeon Bird. 



FIFTY- FIRST KFGIMEXT N. V. VOLUNTEERS. 



31 



General Gilbert \\. INlcKibben — (applause) — has been with us this 
evening, but has been obliged to retire on account of impaired health. 

Occasionally an old veteran is in a Soldiers' Home and can march 
no more. The intirmitics of age, the disabilities of the service, or the 
press of circumstances keep others of our members from being with us 
to-night. 

From Surgeon Bliss comes the following dispatch : 

Saginaw Crrv, Mich., Oct. 29, 1886. 
C. VV. Walton, Secretary: 

I send geeeting to Colonel Shepard and your comrades, and regret that I am 
unable to meet you. I expected to be present to uncover my head to our " Hride," 
and roll back with you a quarter of a cenlury for one more rally around her. 

LvMAN Bliss. 

We are, all together, present or accounted for, about one hun- 
dred and ten, out of some si.xteen hundred who joined the regiment 
first anti last ! As the circle grows smaller, each one should feel a 
greater a rtection for the remaining members. If all the members of 
this regiment could come here to-night, how many graves would be 
opened ! And yet I do not think you would recall a single one of 
them. No; their earthly lives are closed, but their works do follow 
them, ^\'e drop a tear upon their graves and honor them. 

" They sink to rest 
With all their country's honors blest." 

The company were then seated. 

The Chairman — As (General Potter is not able to i)e with us, I 
will read you a letter which 1 received from him not long after its ilale ; 

IIiiAi)i^)UAUTEus 5isr Regimknt, N. Y. V. \ 
Near Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. i8th, 1S62. \ 

Since I wrote you last we have been in another engagement, and did as well, if 
not better, than ever before. Our brigade had the hardest fighting, and in the hottest 
part of the field. My total strength was sixteen officers and 280 enlisted men. My loss 
seventy-four (six of whom were officers) or exactly one-quarter. I have also several 
missing, whom I fear are killed. At first we were detached, supporting a battery, 
Dickinson's, which was driven from the field. I held the position, liowevei — (ap- 
plause)— until ordered up to support the rest of the brigade. In advancing across 
the plain I was entirely alone, no other troops being in motion. I conse(]uenlly at- 
tracted all the enemy's attention, and lost sixty men from the fire of their batteries in 



32 QUARTER-CENTURY BANQCET OF THE 

advancing 300 yards. We held our position on the field until one o'clock on the 
morning of the i6th. For desperalion, this was the fight of the whole war ; we had 
scarcely 50,000 troops under fire, but our loss is going to be a good deal over 
10,000. Where we attacked (1 mean the 2d and 9th Corps), the enemy's posi- 
tion was impregnable. I don't think our Generals could have had any idea of it, or 
tliey must have been mad to try it. Our colors are in a bad way — the staff of our 
American color, the "Bride of the Regiment," has been shot away again, and that 
and the State color are well riddled. 1 intend sending them on to New York to have 
the names of our principal battles in the last four months put on them, viz.: Man- 
asses, Aug 29tli and 30th ; Chantilly, Sept. ist ; South Mountain, Sept. 14th ; Antie- 
tam, Sept. 17th ; Fredericksburg, Dec. 13th and I5ih. I want the broken slafi 
spliced in each place, and a little silver plate with the inscription, " Shattered by a 
grape shot, Newbern, March 8th, 1862 ; shattered by a grape shot, Fredericksburg, 
Sept. 13th, 1862," In this fighl every single man of the color guard ivas hit. On 
the afternoon of the iithinst., when they feared they would have to abandon the 
attempt to throw a bridge across the Rappahannock in front of the town, and the 
enemy concealed in the houses on the opposite bank drove everyone off, General 
Burnside sent for my regiment as a forlorn hope. Before I could get down, how- 
ever, they had thrown enough men across in boats to hold the " tete du pont " till 
they could finish it. I have but 245 men left for duty — how can I get any more ? I 
think I can safely say that no regiment can show a more honorable record than the 
" Shepard Rifles." 

In haste. Yours, ever, 

ROHERT B. PoxrER. 

To Colonel E. F. Shepard. 

(Applause.) 
The Chairman — That letter is a pretty good speech. (Applause.) 
You furnished five general officers to the Union armies. You 
were a kind of West Point. And if all the other regiments from this 
State had done as well, New York would have had all the general offi- 
cers of the whole army. (Applause.) 

The Chairman called upon Captain Charles W. Walton, of Com- 
pany B, author of " Burnside and the Generals of the War," who was 
greeted most heartily, and said : 

Mr. Chairman, Comrades and Gentlemen : — I believe I have 
had the pleasure of hearing a word from all of you while we were ar- 
ranging preliminaries for this banquet, and I want to deliver a message 
for some forty or fifty of the regiment who are absent to-night. They 
told me to say to you all that they wished they could see you once more. 
One said he would have given ten years of his life to be here to-night. / 



FIFTY-FIRST REGIME XT X. Y. VOLUXTFERS. 



33 



(Applause.) Another said, " Remember me to all the boys. " But they 
are thinking of you all, and I know that they would like to join us ; 
and I wish, for one, that they were here. I have felt very happy to- 
night to hear some remarks about our old regiment ; and I begin to feel 
prouder than ever that, before I was twenty-one, I received from the 
Governor of the State of New York three commissions, and I am here 
to-night to welcome you as officers and men of the old Fifty-first, the 
Shepard Rifles, and I hope you will all live to a good old age. I had 
the pleasure of marching down with you when I was enrolled in the 
ranks of Company B, and came back in its command. (Applause.) 
Our regiment crossed, took, and held the Stone Bridge of Antietam. 
(Applause.) I heard the brave Potter's last words before he led us 
over, "Fifty-first New York, will you follow your old flag?" You 
followed and went across the Bridge. The Fifty-first Pennsylvania went 
with us. (Applause.) This, my comrades, was done when the Rebels 
lay in the near cornfield, and our Brigade marched doM-n in 
close proximity to the guns, whose shells came over our heads. We 
were then, at the last moment, brought into requisition. The conse- 
quence is what you all know, — that we live in history, and everv report 
states that we, the Reno Brigade, the Ferrero Fighting Brigade, cap- 
tured the Antietam Bridge ! (Applause.) 

I want to say that I think some of the boys are growing 
younger instead of older, and I hope we may continue young as long 
as possible. (Applause. ) 

The evening was ended by singing " Rally 'Round the Flag, " and 
the distribution of the Bronze Badges, a fac simile of which follows. 



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